2017 Red Bull Ring Sprint Race
The 2017 Red Bull Ring Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2017 Spielberg Race 2, was the tenth round of the 2017 FIA Formula Two Championship, staged at the Red Bull Ring on the 9 July 2017.'GP2 SERIES 2017 SEASON CALENDAR REVEALED', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 27/01/2017), http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2017/01_January/GP2-Series-2017-season-calendar-revealed/, (Accessed 12/07/2018) The race would see Artem Markelov sweep to victory at the head of the field, with Championship leader Charles Leclerc retiring early on.'MARKELOV SPRINTS TO VICTORY IN AUSTRIA', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula Two, 09/07/2017), http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2017/07_July/Markelov-sprints-to-victory-in-Austria/, (Accessed 03/10/2018) Markelov would control the race from pole, and duly aced the start to streak into the lead ahead of Alexander Albon and Oliver Rowland. Ralph Boschung, in contrast, made a mess of his start, barely getting clear of his grid slot before Raffaele Marciello rammed into the back of him having been unsighted in the middle of the pack swarming around the Swiss. A safety car was thrown to retrieve bits of Marcillo's front end from the circuit, with Boschung able to get going at the back of the field. Out front, meanwhile, Markelov would easily sprint clear at the restart to establish a lead, while Leclerc moved into the top five, only to get involved in a race ending accident. Indeed, Leclerc would be taken out by teammate Antonio Fuoco, who had been squeezed onto a kerb at turn four and spun around. The resulting contact left Leclerc out of action, with a VSC thrown to recover the Monegasque's car. Again, Markelov blasted clear at the restart, and duly sprinted clear as Nyck de Vries went charging past Luca Ghiotto and Gustav Malja, causing them to clash. Malja went charging through the gravel at turn four as a result, while Ghiotto survived a tank slapper before getting back ahead of de Vries. That sparked a charge from Ghiotto to try and get onto the podium, and duly blasted up to fourth before getting stuck behind the duelling duo of Albon and Rowland in the closing stages. They duly finished second and third with Ghiotto fourth, as Markelov cruised home to claim his second victory. Background The Red Bull Ring was unchanged overnight ahead of the Sprint race, although the kerbs had been removed after causing problems during the Formula One qualifying session. Regardless, there were no major changes to the grid ahead of the Sprint Race, meaning Artem Markelov would start from pole as expected. Into the Championship and pole combined with victory once again ensured that Charles Leclerc had extended his lead after the Feature Race, the Monegasque heading into the Sprint Race with a huge 59 point lead. Oliver Rowland was his closest challenger with more than half the season still to race, with Artem Markelov a further ten points back. Elsewhere, Nicholas Latifi had moved into fourth ahead of Nobuharu Matsushita, the latter having displaced Luca Ghiotto to get into the top five. In the Teams' Championship it was Prema Racing who led the way after the Feature, their double podium carrying them straight into the lead. DAMS had retained second as Prema and Russian Time swapped places, with the Russian squad suddenly 39 points off the lead having arrived with 3 in hand. There were no major changes further down the order, although ART Grand Prix had passed the 100 point mark in fourth. Entry List The full entry list for the is displayed below: Grid The grid for the twelfth race of the 2017 campaign was formed from the finishing positions of the Feature Race, with the top eight reversed as per-FIA Formula Two rules. Race Report Results The final classification of the is displayed below: *''Italics'' indicate that a driver set fastest lap. ** de Vries was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance. *† Vișoiu was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance. He was also slapped with a three place grid penalty for the following race in Silverstone for causing a collision.'VISOIU PENALISED FOLLOWING SPRINT RACE', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula Two, 09/07/2017), http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2017/07_July/Visoiu-penalised-following-sprint-race/, (Accessed 03/10/2018) Milestones * Second victory for Artem Markelov. * Russian Time claimed their second victory in Formula Two. ** It was also their twelfth GP2/F2 level victory. Standings Despite failing to score at all in the Sprint it was still Charles Leclerc who had complete command on the Championship, ending the afternoon with a 49 point lead. Indeed, the Monegasque ace could now afford to miss an entire race weekend and still head the Championship, with Oliver Rowland, his closest challenger, only able to score a maximum of 48 across a weekend. The Brit was therefore set to duel with Artem Markelov for second in the Championship, with the pair on 102 and 99 points respectively. In contrast the Teams' Championship was far from a forgone conclusion, with Prema Racing and DAMS ending the Austrian weekend tied on points. Russian Time were also in contention, just nine points behind, with ART Grand Prix also within striking distance if they could muster a perfect weekend. Rapax had retained fifth despite failing to score, with Pertamina Arden closing the gap in sixth. Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown. References Images and Videos: * References: Category:Race articles Category:2017 Formula Two Season Category:2017 Sprint Races Category:Austria